This past weekend, two of Springfield’s most vibrant creative organizations joined forces for a unique two-day show. The Pharmacy Gallery and Art Space – which for seven years has hosted seasonal exhibits featuring new work by its member artists in a variety of media – and the Southtown neighborhood’s Black Sheep Café – which for […]
Arts Features
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Arts weekend in Springfield
This past weekend saw four separate, unique art events happening in Springfield at four different venues, each with its own flavor and focus, featuring artists working in multiple media, from this region and from elsewhere, some professional, others therapeutic. On Friday, the SAA Visual Art Center’s M.G. Nelson Family Gallery hosted “Morphology,” a collection of […]
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Enos Park gets an artistic makeover
“People keep pulling up and then immediately driving away,” said a bemused Allison Lacher, one of the local organizers of the Terrain Biennial, which held its preview night Saturday in Enos Park, with festivities spread throughout the neighborhood. “That’s not usually the way things go at art openings – it’s a little disconcerting.” The Terrain […]
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Panic and interconnection
Two of Springfield’s most reliable venues for contemporary visual art presented openings of very different exhibitions this past Friday, Sept. 8. However, only one of the venues will still be standing next year at this time. DEMO Project – a small gallery space dedicated to contemporary art from across the country, located on the Springfield […]
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The Mature Mob goes country
If country music has a sacred place, it’s the Grand Ole Opry. One country reference book compares it to the importance of the Vatican to the Catholic church. The Opry’s role in the development of and continuing popularity of country music, as well as Nashville’s establishment and growth as the music’s primary home, is unmistakable. […]
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Ecstatic and blue
Since launching in the autumn of 2013, DEMO Project – the alternative art gallery located on the campus of the Springfield Art Association – has steadily developed a reputation regionally and nationally as a unique space for contemporary work, attracting artists working in a variety of approaches ranging from painting to sculpture to video to […]
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Legacy’s Newsies is dazzling, topical
“Wrongs will be righted if we’re united. Let us seize the day!” These words might sound more like fiery pro-union rhetoric than a lyric from a high-spirited musical romp. Turns out it’s both. The production of the Disney musical Newsies, which opened this past weekend at the Legacy Theatre in Springfield, is one of only […]
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Mural fiber
Downtown Springfield Inc.’s image and design committee’s most recent project will come to fruition this Thursday evening with…a party in an alley. Of course, that’s not the whole story. Two young artists will unveil new murals, turning the alleyway between the Reisch Building and the Old Town Mall between Fourth and Fifth streets – immediately […]
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Modernism and residency
The Springfield Art Association is currently in high gear with a unique exhibit featuring nearly 300 specimens of modernist furniture and décor. The SAA is also now hosting the first two visiting artists to participate in the recently established Enos Park residency program for visual artists. “Many [20th-century] designers and consumers rejected traditional styles and […]
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International Carillon Festival begins Sunday
The carillon in Washington Park is not only a familiar icon to Springfield residents, it is also known internationally as one of the world’s largest and best carillons. From June 4 to 9, renowned carillonists from The Netherlands, Belgium, Canada, Michigan and Texas will be in Springfield for the 56th annual International Carillon Festival. Begun […]
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This new season is all over the place
The far-reaching 2017-2018 Sangamon Auditorium season will take audiences from Motown to mariachi and from murder mystery to Mummenschanz. It is the final season to be programmed by Bob Vaughn, who will retire in September after serving 11 years as auditorium director. Vaughn graduated with the first class of the Community Arts Management Program back […]
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Home is where the art is
This past Friday saw two concurrent opening receptions featuring eight artists spread across two galleries on the Springfield Art Association campus in the Enos Park neighborhood. Between the two exhibits, Springfield art appreciators were exposed to innovative work from artists based in Illinois, Iowa, Ohio and California. Camille Silverman credits the sense of hectic movement […]
